Tennis Australia chief accused of ‘conflict of interest’

Former player Julien Benneteau has accused Craig Tiley of a preferential treatment towards Roger Federer.

Craig Tiley and Roger Federer at the Australian Open in 2017. Picture Getty Images

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley was last night travelling into the eye of the storm — the ATP World Tour finals in London — after Frenchman Julien Benneteau accused him of a ­conflict of interest that led to preferential treatment for Roger Federer at Melbourne Park.

Benneteau said Tiley’s business dealings with Federer’s management company, in relation to the Laver Cup, had come before the 20-time major champion started to consistently receive preferable timeslots at Melbourne Park.

The Frenchman claimed Federer was allowed to avoid the sweltering noon heat by receiving the lion’s share of night matches, citing the example of Federer playing a prime-time 7.30pm match this year against unheralded Jan-Lennard Struff when a superior match, between Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils, was scheduled for the afternoon.

A Tennis Australia spokesperson said Tiley was unavailable for comment because he was en route to London, where Federer was playing the season-ending event at the O2 Arena.

Premier players have been asked for their preferred timeslots at the Open in recent years. The bigger the name, the more likely they would have their wishes granted.

Even Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, who Benneteau said was paid $750,000 to play in this year’s Laver Cup, has played so often on Hisense Arena simply because he’s asked to.

Tiley has previously been accused of speeding up the courts at Melbourne Park because it would suit Federer better. There’s no doubt the courts have become quicker, nor that Federer has dominated the night-time schedule while winning back-to-back titles in the twilight of his career.

Of course, broadcasters and spectators have been eager for the most popular figure on tour and perhaps the greatest ever player to play at night.

“When he (Federer) promotes the Laver Cup, there are a number of conflicts of interest that have become disturbing,” Benneteau told French radio station RMC Sport. “In the organisation of this event, there’s Craig Tiley, the boss of the Australian Open, who deals with marketing and television rights. He’s the Australian Open tournament director. He is paid by Roger Federer’s agent and on the back of that, as luck would have it, Federer has played 12 of his 14 matches at 7.30pm.”

Benneteau added: “On the same day Federer played Jan-Lennard Struff — I have nothing against Struff, great guy — Novak Djokovic played Gael Monfils. We’re agreed that on paper, any tournament director would put Djokovic-Monfils on night session at 7.30pm, right? But no. They played at 2.30pm, in 104F (40C). And Federer-Struff played at night. It’s normal that he gets preferential treatment, with everything he’s done. But in some tournaments, there are big differences in the conditions (from court to court). He has no idea what that’s like.”

Benneteau criticised Federer for supporting the Laver Cup over the Davis Cup.

“That’s where I find the international tennis bodies incredibly weak,” he said. “It’s an exhibition, his thing. The Laver Cup has no sporting legitimacy. There are no sporting criteria with the selections. There are no ATP points. It’s just financial. Because he gives Nick Kyrgios $750,000 to come and play matches that don’t count, the guys say, ‘OK, those are the rates for the Laver Cup’.”

Djokovic said after his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals, a routine 6-4 6-3 defeat of John Isner, that Federer deserved a leg-up.

“At the end of the day, in a way, he deserves the special treatment because he’s six-time champion of Australian Open and arguably the best player ever,” Djokovic said.

“If he doesn’t have it, who is going to have it? People want to see him play on the centre court, and they want to see him play in showtime, the best hours, which is 7.30 at night in Rod Laver Arena.

“I understand Julien’s point because sometimes it does seem that maybe some players get more favoured year after year in certain tournaments. On the other side, you have to understand that Federer is a driving force of tennis in terms of revenue and attention.”

Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have also had the opportunity to request their favoured court times. Isner said: “If anything, maybe they should get more special treatment because those guys, the top players, have made other players below them a lot of money. It’s like the Tiger Woods effect in golf.”